Young and promising US rider Lucas Porter sat down for an in-depth conversation with Olympic show jumper Jeroen Dubbeldam. They talked about the importance of having patience in the sport, what kind of horse it takes to jump at the highest level and all things horsemanship. "I keep repeating that we need to listen to our horses, have patience and follow them", Jeroen Dubbeldam says.
Lucas Porter: If you would give yourself advice at my age, 24 years old, what would you say?
Jeroen Dubbeldam: "As I grow older and look back on my youth I think my biggest advice would be to have patience. That's really a big key word in our sport. We are working with living animals and you can not force it, you can not force the results because they are sensitive animals. As hungry as we are as competitors, I keep repeating that we need to listen to our horses, have patience and follow them. They sort of tell us how our schedule will be during the year. It's a long road towards those big shows. And if you go too fast, you maybe get there but you only get there once."
Lucas Porter: I have a really promising horse in my stables at the moment. He is only six years old but how I see it is that he could be the horse that will jump the Rolex Grand Slams in the future. What kind of horse does it take to jump those shows at the highest levels of our sport?
Jeroen Dubbeldam: "It can take any kind of horse. It is just important that you deal in the right way with the type of horse you have. It can be like your horse, who shows a lot of capabilities and a lot of scope at a very young age. I think it is that type of horse that is made for Championships or Rolex Grand Slams and big Grand Prix courses. In those classes there are only a few double clears who end up in the jump-off. So those qualities are important.
Lucas Porter: When you were my age, what were your biggest challenges?
Jeroen Dubbeldam: "My best horse De Sjiem, maybe the most important horse in career but also the most challenging one. He had a lot of character and he taught me everything, the full package. Things like what was necessary to become a horsemen, to understand horsemanship and to become a rider at the top level."
Lucas Porter: That's some really great advice, thank you for that Jeroen.
Jeroen Dubbeldam: "It's a pleasure. You know, by talking you also learn a lot. It's not only always the technical part of being in the ring. Talking a lot about our sport is also a great learning school."
Source: press release Rolex Grand Slam
